Auto-Owners
- Offers a wide variety of products with the opportunity to bundle.
- Fewer complaints than expected for auto insurance.
- Offers many coverage options and perks, including accident forgiveness.
- Only available in 26 states.
- Online quotes aren’t available.
NerdWallet's take on Auto-Owners auto insurance
Auto-Owners earned 4.5 out of 5 stars in our analysis for its consumer experience and the many discounts it offers. Its coverage options, including perks like accident forgiveness that are available to some drivers, also make it worth checking out.
Best for: Drivers who want to take advantage of the coverage offerings that Auto-Owners has.
Not ideal for: Drivers who want a digital-first experience for car insurance.
Where Auto-Owners car insurance stands out
Coverage offerings. Auto-Owners lets drivers personalize a basic car insurance policy by adding add gap insurance, diminished value coverage and additional expense coverage. Some drivers may qualify for other perks, too.
Consumer experience. Auto-Owners receives fewer complaints than expected for its size. It also ranks better than average on multiple J.D. Power surveys focusing on customer satisfaction.
Where Auto-Owners car insurance falls short
Availability. Auto-Owners is available in 26 states across the country, but it doesn’t offer coverage in some of the largest states, such as California, New York and Texas.
Must get quotes through an agent. Auto-Owners requires you to talk to an agent to get a quote. If you’re not comfortable talking with someone to get a quote, you might want to look at other insurers.
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How much does Auto-Owners car insurance cost?
For full coverage car insurance, Auto-Owners costs an average of $165 per month or $1,985 per year, according to our November 2025 analysis. The national average cost of this kind of coverage is $2,300 per year.
Minimum coverage from Auto-Owners, the least amount of insurance that your state requires to drive, costs an average of $42 per month or $502 per year, on average. The national average cost of minimum coverage, to compare, is $627 per year.
That said, car insurance rates are different for everyone. That’s because rates depend on personal details, like location, vehicle, insurance history and driving record. It’s a good idea to compare car insurance quotes from a few companies to find which is cheapest for you.
Auto-Owners auto insurance rates by age
The cost of car insurance depends on age, as well. Young drivers often pay the highest rate because they tend to have the least amount of driving experience. Less experience means a greater chance of being involved in an accident compared to other age groups.
But higher rates aren’t permanent. Insurance costs should get closer to average as you age, as long as you keep a clean record. Auto-Owners offers discounts for young drivers, including a good student discount and a discount for young drivers who attend school away from home.
Here are Auto-Owners's average car insurance rates for drivers of different ages:
Young drivers. The average cost of Auto-Owners car insurance for 20-year-old drivers is $3,633 per year, or $303 per month. On average, car insurance for young drivers costs $4,684 per year nationally.
Adult drivers. The average cost of Auto-Owners car insurance for 40-year-old drivers is $1,958 per year, or $163 per month. That’s compared to the national average cost of car insurance for this age group, which is $2,232 per year.
Senior drivers. The average cost of Auto-Owners car insurance for 60-year-old drivers is $1,778 per year, or $148 per month. To compare, car insurance for senior-age drivers costs $1,988 per year.
- More Auto-Owners auto rates by age
Age Company median rate National median rate 20 $3,633 $4,684 30 $2,003 $2,375 35 $1,985 $2,300 40 $1,958 $2,232 50 $1,840 $2,074 60 $1,778 $1,988 70 $1,942 $2,125
Auto-Owners auto insurance rates by driver profile
At Auto-Owners and most other insurance companies, your rates will likely get more expensive after an accident or driving violation. Rates will stay higher than average for a few years but should fall over time, as long as you avoid any more violations.
Your credit history is one factor that many drivers don’t know affects their car insurance rates. In most states, insurance companies use your credit-based insurance score to estimate how likely you are to file a claim. Building your credit could help lower your rates over time.
Below are Auto-Owners' average full coverage rates for 35-year-old drivers:
Poor credit. The average cost of Auto-Owners car insurance for drivers with poor credit is $5,783 per year, or $482 per month. To compare, the national average cost of car insurance for drivers with low credit-based insurance scores is $3,850 per year.
(California, Hawaii and Massachusetts don't allow insurers to use credit when determining car insurance rates.)
Speeding ticket. The average cost of Auto-Owners car insurance with one speeding ticket is $2,707 per year, or $226 per month. On average, drivers with one speeding ticket pay $2,931 per year for car insurance.
At-fault crash. The average cost of Auto-Owners car insurance for drivers after an accident is $2,674 per year, or $223 per month. That's compared to the national average for this group of $3,405 per year.
DUI. The average cost of Auto-Owners car insurance for drivers with a DUI is $3,982 per year, or $332 per month. The national average cost of car insurance for someone with a DUI or DWI is $4,265 per year.
Auto-Owners auto insurance discounts
Depending on your state, you may be able to save on auto insurance by:
Buying multiple insurance products from Auto-Owners.
Making on-time payments for 36 months.
Paying your premium in full, up front.
Opting for paperless billing and online payments.
Insuring more than one vehicle with Auto-Owners.
Owning a car that has safety features, like anti-lock brakes and anti-theft tech.
Having few or no past claims on your record.
Getting a quote before you start a policy, as long as you’re a new customer.
Having a “B” or better grade-point average as a student.
Leaving your car at home while attending school more than 100 miles away.
Monitoring teen drivers with GPS.
You may need to buy the minimum amount of car insurance your state requires if you want to get the cheapest possible rates. We recommend getting more coverage if you can afford it. The damage from a serious accident may be far greater than what a minimum policy will cover.
Auto-Owners car insurance coverage
Auto-Owners’s full coverage car insurance includes the standard types of coverage offered by most insurers:
- Liability insurance
Liability car insurance pays for others’ injuries or property damage you cause in a car accident, up to your auto policy limits. There are two types:
Bodily injury liability covers others’ medical expenses after an accident where you are at fault.
Property damage liability covers the repair costs to other vehicles, fences, mailboxes or buildings from an accident.
Is it required? Yes. Every state, except for Virginia and remote parts of Alaska, requires drivers to have a minimum amount of liability car insurance in order to drive legally.
- Personal injury protection
Also known as "no-fault insurance," PIP covers your own injuries and medical expenses after a crash, regardless of who's at fault, up to your policy limits. Depending on your state, PIP could also help pay for:
Lost wages if you're unable to work due to your injuries from a car accident.
Services you can't perform because of an accident, such as house cleaning or child care.
Funeral costs if an injury from an accident leads to death.
A small death benefit as a cash payout.
Is it required? Personal injury protection is required in the following states: Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon and Utah.
- Medical payments coverage
Medical payments coverage, or MedPay, helps pay for your medical expenses or funeral costs after a car accident, no matter who's at fault, up to your policy limits. It also pays for medical bills if you or one of your family members is hit by a car while on foot, riding a bike or traveling as a passenger in someone else’s car.
Is it required? MedPay is required in Maine and New Hampshire, and can be purchased as an optional add-on in most other states. In a few states, MedPay can't be purchased because personal injury protection is required.
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage pays out if you're in an accident where the at-fault driver has no liability car insurance, or not enough to cover your injuries or property damage. It can also be used to pay for your passengers’ and household family members’ injuries.
Is it required? Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is required in Washington, D.C., and the following states: Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
- Collision insurance
Collision insurance reimburses you to fix or replace your car if you crash into another car or object. It can also pay for hit-and-runs, rollovers and damage caused by uninsured or underinsured drivers.
Collision insurance becomes less useful the older your car is. That's because it reimburses you for repairs only up to the actual cash value of your car, minus your deductible.
Is it required? Collision insurance isn't mandatory in any state, but most lenders require it if you finance or lease your car. And when you buy collision insurance, you'll likely have to also get comprehensive insurance, which pays for damage to your car from non-traffic-related causes.
- Comprehensive insurance
Comprehensive insurance reimburses you to fix or replace your car after non-traffic-related causes, such as:
Weather events, like hail, floods or tornadoes.
Falling objects, such as tree limbs.
Fire or explosions.
Hitting an animal.
Car theft and broken windows.
Earthquakes.
Vandalism or civil disobedience, such as a riot.
Comprehensive insurance becomes less useful the older your car is. That's because it reimburses you for repairs only up to the actual cash value of your car, minus your deductible.
Is it required? Comprehensive insurance isn't mandatory in any state, but most lenders require it if you finance or lease your car. And when you buy comprehensive insurance, you'll likely have to also get collision insurance, which pays for damage to your car from traffic-related causes.
Optional coverage
Auto-Owners also offers some types of optional coverage, such as:
Gap coverage. If you total a car that you’re leasing or paying off, gap insurance will help cover the difference between the value of your car and what you still owe on a loan or lease.
Who might need it? You may need gap insurance if you drive a lease or have an auto loan. Even if it’s not required, gap insurance may be worth having, especially if you have a long-term auto loan that your car’s natural depreciation could quickly outpace.
Diminished value coverage. Similar to gap insurance, diminished value coverage helps to pay you back for the reduced value of your car if you’re involved in an accident.
Who might need it? It could be worth paying more for diminished value coverage if you drive a newer car. Newer cars would have a higher resale value than an older model, so the loss in value after a crash would likely be more significant for a newer car than one that’s many model years old.
Additional expenses coverage. If your car is in the shop for a covered claim, this optional coverage helps to pay for a rental replacement, as well as food, lodging and other incidentals if you’re stranded.
Who might need it? This could be a good value depending on your budget. Usually these coverages are packaged separately. It could make a lot of sense if you drive your car every day or you frequently take long trips.
Road trouble service. This is often called roadside assistance coverage. Auto-Owners will help provide services like a jump for a dead battery, towing and more if you’re stranded while driving.
Who might need it? Having roadside assistance could be worth it if you don’t already have this coverage from a credit card or a membership, like AAA, especially if you take frequent road trips.
Auto-Owners also may include a few benefits in its auto policies that other major insurers don’t.
Accident forgiveness. With this benefit, your rates won’t go up after your first at-fault accident. You may qualify if you don’t have an at-fault claim or violation during the previous 36 months.
Common loss deductible. This benefit applies if you have your home insurance through Auto-Owners and an auto policy with comprehensive coverage. If you need to make a claim to both policies for the same event — such as a bad storm or a tree falling on both your house and car — the company will reduce your auto deductible by the amount of your property deductible. If your homeowners deductible is higher, the company will waive your auto deductible.
Collision coverage advantage. If you’re in a collision with another customer of the company, your collision deductible will be waived.
Rental car insurance. When you rent a car, your Auto-Owners policy covers as much as it does for your personal car, as well as any fees from the rental company associated with an accident. Some auto policies have lower coverage limits when you rent a car and don’t pay those fees.
It's important to understand what coverage you want and what you’re required to buy when you shop for car insurance. You don’t have to settle for less coverage than you need to lower your rates. Instead, you can find cheap car insurance for the coverage you need (and optional coverage you want) by comparing quotes.
Is Auto-Owners a good insurance company?
Auto-Owners insurance compares well to other car insurance companies that we analyzed. It stands out for its many coverage options, discounts and its customer experience.
Complaints: Auto-Owners receives fewer complaints than expected for its size, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Shopping: Auto-Owners ranks better than average in J.D. Power’s Insurance Shopping Study, which measures shoppers’ satisfaction with the buying experience.
Claims satisfaction: Auto-Owners also ranks better than average in J.D. Power’s Auto Claims Satisfaction Study, which measures how users feel about an insurer’s claims experience.
See what you could save on car insurance
Easily compare personalized rates to see how much switching car insurance could save you.
More information about Auto-Owners car insurance
Customer service: You can reach Auto-Owners by calling 800-346-0346.
Website: The Auto-Owners website is packed with information about coverages and discounts. You can file and track claims online, too. Auto-Owners also has an email form you can fill out on its website.
Mobile app: The Auto-Owners mobile app lets you manage payments, request roadside assistance, access your policy documents, check the status of a claim and more. It’s available on iOS and Android.
Other Auto-Owners insurance reviews
How we review auto insurance companies
Our editorial team considers these factors when reviewing auto insurance companies:
- Financial strength
We use AM Best ratings to confirm an insurer’s long-term financial stability and ability to pay claims. NerdWallet does not recommend companies with a rating lower than a B.
- Complaints
These ratings are based on complaints to state regulators relative to a company’s size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The best auto insurance companies have fewer than the expected number of complaints.
- Ease of use
This category looks at how easily consumers can interact with an insurer through its mobile app and website. This includes how much coverage information is offered online, whether a user can start and track a claim online and get a quote and mobile app scores based on the Apple and Google Play store ratings.
- Discounts
We look at the kind of discounts a company offers and the total number of discounts available.
Read our full auto insurance methodology.
We nerd out on car insurance
Our goal is to give you what you need to make smart decisions about your car insurance.
Here’s why you can trust NerdWallet:
We do our homework. We regularly evaluate and review many of the insurance companies we write about. And all of our content is fact-checked before publication. This means the star ratings you see on our reviews are accurate and up-to-date.
We analyze the data. We update our average car insurance rates every month. To do that, we analyze more than 500 million rates from across the country. These rates are provided by Quadrant Information Services.
We are unbiased. NerdWallet’s content is never influenced by our business partners and advertisers. Learn more about how we write in our editorial guidelines.
Frequently asked questions
How can you get an Auto-Owners quote?
How can you get an Auto-Owners quote?
You'll need to contact an independent agent to get a quote. Auto-Owners doesn't offer online quotes.
How can you file a claim with Auto-Owners?
How can you file a claim with Auto-Owners?
Contact your independent agent to file a claim. If you need to file a claim outside of normal business hours, call 888-252-4626. After you submit a claim, you can track its status in the Auto-Owners app or website.
Where does Auto-Owners offer insurance?
Where does Auto-Owners offer insurance?
Auto-Owners offers insurance in 26 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Article sources
NerdWallet writers are subject matter authorities who use primary, trustworthy sources to inform their work, including peer-reviewed studies, government websites, academic research and interviews with industry experts. All content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and relevance. You can learn more about NerdWallet's high standards for journalism by reading our editorial guidelines.
- 1.J.D. Power. 2025 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study. Accessed Dec 22, 2025.
- 2.J.D. Power. 2025 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study. Accessed Dec 22, 2025.
Methodology
Insurer complaints methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2022-2024. To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.
Auto insurance ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s auto insurance ratings reward companies for customer-first features and practices. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, consumer complaints and discounts. Our “ease of use” category looks at factors such as website transparency and how easy it is to file a claim. Using our editorial discretion, we also consider customer satisfaction surveys. These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines and full ratings methodology for auto insurance.
Average rates methodology
NerdWallet averaged rates based on public filings obtained by pricing analytics company Quadrant Information Services. We examined rates for men and women for all ZIP codes in any of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Although it’s one of the largest insurers in the country, Liberty Mutual is not included in our rates analysis due to a lack of publicly available information.
In our analysis, “good drivers” had no moving violations on record; a “good driving” discount was included for this profile. Our “good” and “poor” credit rates are based on credit score approximations and do not account for proprietary scoring criteria used by insurance providers.
These are average rates, and your rate will vary based on your personal details, state and insurance provider.
Sample drivers had the following coverage limits:
$100,000 bodily injury liability coverage per person.
$300,000 bodily injury liability coverage per crash.
$50,000 property damage liability coverage per crash.
$100,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage per person.
$300,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage per crash.
Collision coverage with $1,000 deductible.
Comprehensive coverage with $1,000 deductible.
We used the same assumptions for all other driver profiles, with the following exceptions:
We changed the credit tier from “good” to “poor” as reported to the insurer to see rates for drivers with poor credit. In states where credit isn’t taken into account, we only used rates for “good credit.”
For drivers with one at-fault crash, we added a single at-fault crash costing $10,000 in property damage.
For drivers with a DUI, we added a single drunken-driving violation.
We used a 2022 Toyota Camry LE in all cases and assumed 12,000 annual miles driven. We analyzed rates for drivers of the following ages: 20, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60 and 70.
Auto insurance survey methodology
The opt-in survey of 7,503 U.S. adults ages 18 and older was conducted online by Russell Research on behalf of NerdWallet in June and July 2024. Respondents were asked to rate one auto insurance brand they obtained or renewed a policy within the past 12 months, with at least some changes to the original policy. These brands were rated on overall satisfaction, overall value, online experience, trustworthiness, mobile app experience, claims experience and customer support on a scale of 1-100.
Only brands with 100 or more qualifying respondents are reported. Of those respondents: 300 were State Farm customers, 300 were Progressive customers, 300 were Allstate customers, 300 were GEICO customers, 100 were USAA customers, 157 were AAA customers, 100 were Liberty Mutual customers, 100 were American Family customers, 100 were Farmers customers, 100 were Travelers customers and 101 were Nationwide customers.
